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2014-12-16 training log

So I’m changing it up for a couple reasons: 1. trying to up the “work” done (more sets, more reps, etc.) to help burn more calories, 2. trying to see if I can be nicer to my knees.

I didn’t wear the knee sleeves to see how things went. I also wound up moving rather slowly. I want to be more controlled on the descent in case the rebound is hurting my knees, and since the sleeves add a little bulk behind the knee joint to see if well… this helps in any way.

I think I moved a little too slow, but I was trying to really pay attention to things. I think it wound up being ok because boy, form was pretty strict. I think I need that, so I keep my torso tighter, more upright, and thus yes it puts more work into my quads. All squat sets were slow, but by choice and I sure felt a lot more worked afterwards. We’ll see where this goes.

Stiff-Legs I kept light so I could get the movement down. I’m very used to straight-legs, but I don’t want to do that. This is stiff-legs, where there can be some bend in the knees but not in the lower back; initiate from the top, push the hips back, etc.. So I wanted to keep it light today just so I could get myself into the movement and find that right groove. I’ll slowly increase the weight as I get into the groove — the hardest part being minding my (lack of) flexibility….

Same with leg press… it’s not out to press a ton, just to be better about things. Like to really push my knees out on the descent, work to get a good pump, etc.. So again, starting really light here. Be kind to the knees.

I think one thing not helping is again, the diet. I woke up this morning to 236 lb — dropped pound since yesterday. Hrm. Is this tissue? Because geez, what’s left in me of water or glycogen at this point? I’m pretty tapped out. Even after being able to have carbs yesterday, by evening I was having some serious hunger pangs and cravings, which is unusual for such a day. So… it is what it is, and I’ll just keep going because even if this is all legit fat-issue loss, it’s a rate that won’t last long. Just ride along while I can, and keep in mind that no matter how shitty things are in the gym, so long as it continues to work towards my primary goal of “defatting” then it’s all good.

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3 thoughts on “2014-12-16 training log”

Do you incorporate body weight training? If you have knee concerns this can really help. At least it has for me. I’ve been feeling much stronger and healthier by doing some body weight training. I still hit the weights of course but I’ve been padding a lot with body weight stuff. Especially single leg squat variations. Which has increased my strength on other leg exercises greatly.

I think the key to making this really work is to ensure you’re body weight progressions are hard enough. It’s easy to go easy with body weight so using rings to do things like archer pullups and pushups can really help you continue pushing the progression.

As a youngster I started off doing all body weight stuff but I failed to continue making the progressions harder. Also I recently read a white paper on gymnastics strength that really helped me think about what I was doing in the gym. Turns out I’ve had a number of coaches that have summed up much of the same in not so many words. Tension.

So being big is good but being able to contract those muscles is more important for strength. Body weight training is amazing for developing this. And just for the concerned, I’ve been staying between 215 and 220 lbs even when doing mostly body weight routines for multiple weeks. I just feel harder and more explosive.

First, seems the comment got posted twice, this one with a minor difference so… I deleted the one and just posted this one through.

Do I do bodyweight stuff? Generally no, but for the legs, yes I’ve been trying to do more… and just like you, single-leg work. It’s been a help no question. However in my case, I think I’m dealing with a knee problem — the guess is a torn meniscus, but it’s really hard to know for sure. I can generally operate and get around just fine, but there’s issues here and there.

So things like the bodyweight work, like lots of lunges or Bulgarian split squats and the like, yeah… they are helping because they are helping to build up all the support structure around the knee AND not necessarily doing so in a stressful way (e.g. like heavy squats and deadlifts), which is certainly helping me borrow more time before the inevitable surgery. 🙂 But they only help so much because this just isn’t something that is going to be fixed by strengthening stuff.

You are right about the contraction. Things like Compensatory Acceleration Training are right along with that too. I’ll give the PDF a read… because yeah, gymnasts know a lot here; well worth heeding their stuff.

A lot of it read like something out of Westside Barbell. Granted the goals of powerlifting are different than gymnastics, but there was a lot of similarity here because when you compete with weight-classes, you are talking about being as strong as you can within limited size. So much of the same issues are in play here.

For me, the bodyweight work tends to be on the side of rehab and preventative maintenance, for things like my knee troubles.

Otherwise, I’ve found that lifting in a more powerlifting style is more enjoyable to me. While my youth preferred more bodybuilding-style lifting, well… I kinda prefer being stronger than bigger, tho bigger’s nice too. 🙂